Tuesday - April 14, 2015

Path of Exile - Interview @ MMO Games

by Couchpotato, 04:21

Chris Wilson the Producer and Lead Designer of Grinding Gear Games was interviewed by MMO Games last week to talk about his F2P ARPG game Path of Exile.

On Friday night, I had the chance to sit down with Chris Wilson — Producer and Lead Designer of Grinding Gear Games, the 57-person team behind the esteemed free-to-play action MMORPG Path of Exile. You may or may not have heard by now that the game has a big expansion on the way. So big that it will be adding in a third more stuff to do in game. Whew! This will be Path of Exile’s fourth Act and is the biggest yet. Did I say that it’s big?

Monday - April 13, 2015

Path of Exile - Interview @ RPGamer

Producer & Lead Designer Chris Wilson of Grinding Gear Games was interviewed on RPGamer last week to talk about the next digital expansion for Path of Exile.

How long has the expansion been under development?

In 2013, when we released the game, we knew we wanted to make a follow-up expansion that was really big, pushed its plot forward a lot, and added new storyline and monsters. The problem was that we knew it was going to take two years and were concerned that two years without releasing any new content for existing players would be a death sentence. So we put together another team and had one team working on the expansion, while the other team finished three smaller ones, which took about four-to-six months each whereas this one has been in development since around 2013.

Can you tell us about the general Path of Exile experience and what changes The Awakening makes to it?

It is both a very large expansion to the core content of Path of Exile but also adds new systems that push the game in other ways. Path of Exile has a reputation in the community as a game that provides a lot of character customisation possibilities. This is partly because we have some systems that, while relatively easy to use for new players, can be very deep for players that like to fiddle around with the details. An example here is that all the skills you can use in the game are [equippable] gems that you can trade between players, and you can also combine them together by putting support gems in the sockets nearby to modify their properties. For example, you can take the fireball gem and convert its damage to ice, spit out multiple projectiles, convert it into a traps or set of mines that can be detonated, convert it into a totem that casts fireballs, or all of the above. That applies to the active skills, but it's the passive skill tree we'll be talking about more here.

Sunday - April 12, 2015

Path of Exile - The Awakening News Coverage

by Couchpotato, 04:46

Grinding Gear Games unveiled their new expansion for Path of Exile called The Awakening this week at a media summit, and made a new post about all the new media coverage.

We're proud to announce Path of Exile: The Awakening. Many different news sites are covering the announcement, and they'll be posting their articles and videos over the next few hours. We'll keep this news post updated with links to them. Check out initial coverage from Gamespot, Gamepedia, PC Gamer, Game Trailers, PC World, Shacknews, MMORPG.com, MassivelyOP, GotGame, IGN and MMOHuts!

Due to the vast changes in The Awakening, we will be running a Closed Beta starting on April 20. You'll be able to register your interest and will hopefully be selected to help test it. Because of the expansion's testing needs, we'll be starting out with a smaller Beta population and will expand it to a large one over approximately six weeks. We're not announcing a final release date for The Awakening yet until the exact duration of the Beta is known. After working on it since 2013, we're really excited to finally let you guys play The Awakening!

Path of Exile - Discontinued Supporter Packs

The current Forsaken Masters supporter packs will stop being sold at the end of Sunday April 19th PDT. We've created a video to highlight the contents of the current supporter packs. These are exclusive and won't be available again in future. If you're interested in a supporter pack, now is the time to purchase them before they become unavailable!

Friday - March 13, 2015

Path of Exile - Preview of Improvements

Our upcoming Path of Exile expansion contains a slew of Quality of Life improvements that we've been working on this year (many of which were suggested by community members). We plan on revealing all of these over the next few weeks of development, but we have taken an early screenshot to show a few of them today. The screenshot shows three QOL improvements: the party leader is indicated in blue on the minimap, party character names are shown, and there's now an optional in-game clock built into the UI. Note that these features are unfinished, and can/will look different by the time they're fully released.

Saturday - February 28, 2015

Path of Exile - New Patch & Q&A Answers

by Couchpotato, 05:39

Grinding Gear Games posted the answers to last weeks Q&A on the Path of Exile forums, and also announced patch 1.3.1c was released this week.

We've deployed Patch 1.3.1c, which improves client performance, fixes a bug and introduces two new microtransactions: Eagle Claw Wand Skin and the Ghost Flicker Strike Skill Effect. Today's news post also includes the answers to questions from the Developeract Q&A earlier this week.

Tuesday - February 24, 2015

Path of Exile - New Developer Q&A

Our last Developer Q&A event was in December, so we feel it's time for another! We've previously used a variety of formats for answering community questions (in-game, a Twitch stream or via Raptr), so for this one we'll be answering questions posted in this forum thread. We'll let questions accumulate for two days and then will answer them in the news post on Wednesday (NZ time).

Note that while we welcome questions about future content, quite a few things are going to be covered by the "We can't talk about the Act Four expansion yet" answer. Having said that, there's no harm in asking!

I'd recommend just posting few important questions rather than many trivial ones. Depending on how many good questions there are, there's a very good chance that we can't answer them all. We'll do our best to pick a selection of important ones. If you want to increase the chance that your question is answered, try to phrase it in a constructive non-hostile way. It's also good to check that no one has posted a very similar question before you.

I'll be the primary person answering questions, but will reach out to other developers for answers as needed. Just to clarify, the answers are going to be posted two days from now. Let the questions begin!

At 5pm PST on Sunday (2pm NZT Monday, 2am CET Monday), we'll be hosting the America portion of our Season One PvP Invitational on our Twitch Channel. The event will be commentated by streamer-extraordinaire WillyWonka and PvP-expert GreenDude! It's a double-elimination tournament that will crown a Standard and Hardcore champion, then host a grudge match that decides which league is better at PvP. The European invitational was held one day earlier and you can see its results/VOD here. Today's news post will serve as the thread for the American tournament, showing the invitees and the brackets they are playing in. We'll be updating it as it plays out.

At 7pm CET on Saturday (7am NZT Sunday, 10am PST Saturday), we hosted the Europe portion of our Season One PvP Invitational on our Twitch Channel. The event was commentated by streamer-extraordinaire WillyWonka and PvP-expert GreenDude! It's a double-elimination tournament that crowns a Standard and Hardcore champion, then hosts a grudge match that decides which league is better at PvP. The American invitational will be held one day later (5pm PST Sunday, which is 2pm NZT Monday or 2am CET). Today's news post will serve as the thread for the tournament, showing the invitees and the brackets they are playing in.

Friday - January 02, 2015

Path of Exile - 2014 Retrospective

Today's the last day of 2014 in New Zealand, so we're wrapping the year up with a look back on Path of Exile's biggest year. We are so thankful for the help, support and feedback you guys have given over the last three years. In 2014, Path of Exile became bigger than we ever dreamed it would, and it's because of you guys spreading the word and encouraging friends to play. 2015 is going to be a huge year, with our largest ever expansion coming up really soon. We can't wait to share it with you

Wednesday - December 31, 2014

Path of Exile - New Podcast & Comic Issue

by Couchpotato, 05:01

Grinding Gear Games posted a new update on the Path of Exile forums with information on a new podcast with the developer, and announces a new comic issue is available.

The 22nd episode of the community State of Exile podcast has been released! Here's a link to it on YouTube. Issue #3 of our digital comic series is nearly complete - we're planning to release it in late January. Here's a teaser panel from that issue. You can purchase issue #1 here and #2 here.

Path of Exile - Patch 1.2.4d Deployed

We've deployed patch 1.2.4d today. It added two new microtransactions - the Swordfish Ice Spear and Chicken Pet. It's pretty crazy how popular that Chicken is. Today's patch had a bug that destroyed imprints of items. Update: We have restored these imprints in their original locations. If there was something in the way, then they were restored to a remove-only tab called "Restored Item".

Thursday - October 30, 2014

Path of Exile - Miscellaneous Updates

by Couchpotato, 15:46

Grinding Gear Games posted a new update on the Path of Exile forums with information on various new updates fro those still playing the game.

Today's news post is an assortment of miscellaneous updates about various topics. We deployed the 1.2.4b patch yesterday, which fixed several small problems. The testing of PvP changes on our Alpha server is going well - we expect to start tournament testing on Alpha in the coming weeks. If you're a PvP player who would like to help with this testing, please PM Qarl with a brief explanation of your PvP experience.

Several members of our team are heading to Melbourne tomorrow for PAX Australia this weekend. We're not running a booth there, but are holding a fan meetup on Saturday evening somewhere in the CBD. Email me at chris@grindinggear.com if you'd like to receive information about the meetup once it's decided.

The second issue of the comic is expected to go on sale a week from today.

Path of Exile - PVP & New Content Updates

Last week we posted about Race Season Nine. Because the race season uses tech from the 1.2.4 patch (which we're planning to deploy on Tuesday), we've confirmed a start date of that race season to be the weekend of October 25. We'll be posting a full schedule next week in advance of the season starting. Today's news update describes some of the changes in the upcoming 1.2.4 update!

These aren't the full 1.2.4 patch notes, but a few of the changes you can look forward to are:

We'll be releasing a major update to Path of Exile's PvP featureset in December. This will be released in the 1.3.0 update, alongside new challenge leagues. Today's news post outlines our plans for these PvP features.

We'll be starting our first formal PvP season in December. Each season will feature a variety of different tournaments, ranging from shorter casual events with rapid matchmaking to larger-scale multi-hour tournaments with swiss pairings. We're also planning a type of free-for-all event inspired by the Sarn Arena.

The PvP seasons will last roughly a month each and will feature alternate art unique items as prizes. There are are also the PvP equivalent of Demigod uniques, awarded to the best competitors. The first season will focus around 1v1 level 28 dueling, but will include a few team and no-level-cap events. Later seasons will shift the focus to different types of events.

Friday - October 10, 2014

Path of Exile - Grandmasters Update #3

One of Grinding Gear Games updates this week for Path of Exile has news on the next Hall of Grandmasters Development update on the games website.

Hall of Grandmasters Development Update 3

Grandmaster Supporters have been busy submitting characters for the Hall of Grandmasters Unique Map. We've been testing character importation and have recorded a video showing a work-in-progress fight against one Grandmaster. Eventually you'll be facing several at once! We're very pleased with how this encounter has turned out so far. As you can see in the video, the Grandmaster behaves a lot like a real player. For previous news about the Hall of Grandmasters, check out Development Update 1 and Development Update 2

Path of Exile - 1.2.3b Patch Notes

We've deployed update 1.2.3b! As mentioned before, there are a variety of new item skins to check out in this patch. The rest of today's news post is an update on the status of the Hall of Grandmasters.

Last month we posted Development Update 1 which included some pictures of what our internal version of the Map looked like at the time. Almost all of the development on the Map since then has been behind-the-scenes rather than cosmetic changes. We've finished the process that allows characters to be exported, and have included that in today's 1.2.3b patch. If you're a Grandmaster Supporter and would like to see how to submit your character, check this thread out.

We originally planned that Grandmaster Supporters would email us to specify what character they want to submit. They'd then have to leave that character untouched in the right state for several days while we get around to finding it in a backup and exporting/importing it. This was a bit unreasonable, so we've implemented a system that allows players to export their own characters. That way they can change it to the Grandmaster build, export it, and go back to playing the character on its regular build.

Today's patch added an item that Grandmaster Supporters will receive in their microtransaction stashes. Clicking it will automatically export their character and send it to us. More information can be found here! As we receive submitted characters, we'll be adding them to the internal testing version of our Map and starting the next part of the process: balancing it.

Edit: The Grandmaster export items have been added to your accounts now! If you're a Grandmaster Supporter, look in your microtransaction stash!

Saturday - September 27, 2014

Path of Exile - Seven Million Players

Grinding Gear Games happily announced today that Path of Exile has over several million players now since the game launched last year. They also sent a press release.

Path of Exile Celebrates Seven Million Players

Taiwanese account registrations over one million just one month after debut; Forsaken Masters deemed "extremely well-received"

Auckland, New Zealand - September 26, 2014 - In partnership with leading Asian publisher Garena Online, Grinding Gear Games today announced that its critically-acclaimed action RPG Path of Exile has seen unprecedented success following the launch of the game's second expansion, Forsaken Masters, and its official release in Taiwan.

Exceeding expectations of both Grinding Gear Games and Garena Online, Path of Exile has reached a new level of success. Less than one month after the game's official release in Taiwan, Path of Exile saw over one million new Taiwanese account registrations - a number steadily growing after an incredibly successful Open Beta and launch. Published by Garena Online, the Taiwanese version of Path of Exile features traditional Chinese language support as well as a number of Taiwan-exclusive microtransaction options. Path of Exile went live in Taiwan on August 14, 2014.

Much of the game's ongoing success is due to the acclaim of its latest expansion, Forsaken Masters, as well as Grinding Gear Games' steadfast devotion to keeping Path of Exile updated with new content, which includes a new expansion every few months. Boasting a wealth of new and engaging content, Forsaken Masters has been "extremely well-received" by both new and existing players of Path of Exile, bringing the worldwide total of registered players to well over seven million. Path of Exile also saw a record-breaking number of concurrent players within the past month, reaching a peak of 154,000 players online simultaneously.

In Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters, players cross paths with the seven Forsaken Masters, who aid Exiles in their own specialized way. Each Master offers unique quests, training, mission variations, item crafting and modification options, secret and customizable towns known as Hideouts, tiers of Hideout decorations, and more in exchange for an Exile's help. New Challenge Leagues, revamped boss fights, new lore, new Unique items, new skill and support gems, a PvP Spectator Mode, and dozens of other additions have also been implemented as part of the Forsaken Masters expansion. Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters was released as a free content update on August 20, 2014.

Interested gamers can download and play Path of Exile via Steam, or by registering on the official Path of Exile website at www.pathofexile.com.

Grinding Gear Games regularly releases videos to expand on and complement updates, including patch previews, upcoming gameplay trailers, Developer Diaries, featured community content, and Build of the Week segments directly from Chris Wilson. Interested players should check out the Path of Exile YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/grindinggear.

We're planning to deploy the 1.2.3 Content Update late next week. Today's news post includes some information about what's intended for the update, but shouldn't be treated as full patch notes. There are many other changes that aren't included in this post.

A large component of 1.2.3 is increased mission variety. Tora has now found new kinds of monsters she'll ask you to hunt down, including bosses with all-new skills. Haku's bosses have been improved and have all-new effects that occur when you pick up the Spirit. Vagan has a new combat variation, new companion variations, and sometimes drops traps around his arena before the fight starts. At higher difficulties, Elreon missions can now have waves that include Magic, Rare, and Unique monsters. Some improvements have also been made to the Vorici guards.

The fifteenth episode of the community State of Exile podcast was recorded today. It's in two parts, the second of which has Carl and Rory from our balance department as guest speakers. Part One is here and Part Two is here. In other news, we've released five new screenshots from the 1.2.3 patch (OneTwoThreeFourFive). All of these screenshots show a new type of enemy skill (internally called "Beacons") that cause objects to be placed randomly that explode a few seconds later. In these screenshots, they are being used in some Haku mission variations.

Path of Exile - 1.2.2b Patch Released

1.2.2b Patch

We're deploying a 1.2.2b patch to fix a few issues with today's 1.2.2 deploy. Thanks for your patience! One feature that people are enjoying in today's patch is the ability to unleash pets in your hideout. We've seen some pretty awesome hideouts with large collections of pets so far. Someone purchased over 100 Wetas! If you haven't checked out the three new skill effects in 1.2.2, they're over here.

The bows and wands affected by the problem in the first few minutes of 1.2.2 have been restored in remove-only stash tabs.

Path of Exile - Update 1.2.2 Information

We're in the final stretches of development on the 1.2.2 Content Update. In addition to Roaming Pets and some new microtransaction effects discussed previously, the patch contains various other quality of life improvements. Click through for more information!

We've added some new bench-crafting mods.

Masters can sell decorations to you while they're in towns.

Levels of daily missions from masters have been adjusted to better line up with player levels at those stages of the game.

The Cast on Melee Kill Support Gem has been reworked so that it always triggers and increases the damage of the triggered spells.

Wednesday - September 03, 2014

Path of Exile - Development Update

The Grandmaster Supporter Pack includes the ability to immortalise one of your characters in the Hall of Grandmasters unique map. If you'd like to read more about what The Hall of Grandmasters is, lots of information is at the bottom of the purchase page. Today's news article is an update on how development of the map is going. We'll post more updates in the news as progress continues!

Thursday - August 28, 2014

Path of Exile - 1.2.0c Patch Notes

We've deployed update 1.2.0c - its patch notes are here. Some of the Forsaken Masters Supporter Packs contain sets of signed concept art (from Path of Exile's past, present and future) that we ship out to Master and Grandmaster supporters. We've started preparing these packs for signing and shipping. We expect to start sending them out late this week or early next week. You'll receive an email as we ship your pack.

Path of Exile - New Announcement Posted

Over the weekend we hit a new record of 154,300 users playing Path of Exile simultaneously! We're currently preparing a 1.2.0c patch (likely to be deployed tomorrow) which includes a lot of improvements to the Forsaken Masters experience. For example, you'll now be able to sell items to vendors in other people's hideouts, which will make mapping a lot more convenient

Monday - August 25, 2014

Path of Exile - Weekend News Update

by Couchpotato, 05:40

Grinding Gear Games has posted new weekend update for Path of Exile with news on Stash Tab Sales, Server Stability, Concurrency Record, and new Beyond Updates.

We've had a lot of reports about server stability issues in the last few hours, mostly from Canada and to a lesser extent, other areas of Northern America. We've escalated the issue to our server host who are investigating it. These types of issues usually involve internet issues between various ISPs and can be resolved with the ISPs investigating for a few hours. We're keeping a close eye on it!

There's a similar issue going on with our Australian gateway over a longer period of time, related to internet choppiness between Australia and our master servers in America. We're looking for solutions to this and are confident that we can resolve it.

We broke another international player concurrency record last night and it's very clear that tonight is going to be another all-time high! I'll let you know how it went after the weekend.

We've been receiving a lot of feedback about the Forsaken Masters expansion. The vast majority is extremely positive, but some players have expressed concern with the balance of some of the bosses in the Beyond league. We are reading the feedback, continuing to playtest, looking at player data and making more changes. I expect the next set of changes will be deployed on Monday or Tuesday. The leagues are an evolving thing, and we're keen to hit the sweet spot of challenge, reward and fun.

Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters is Now Live

Auckland, New Zealand - August 20, 2014 - Grinding Gear Games, developer of the award-winning action RPG Path of Exile, today announced that Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters, an entirely new content expansion, is now live as of 3:00 PM PST (10:00 AM New Zealand Time on August 21) as a free update to the game. Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters offers both new and returning Path of Exile players a slew of new content and features related to the seven Masters.

As per the expansion's title, players will cross paths with the seven Forsaken Masters -- seven skilled individuals who were exiled to the forsaken continent of Wraeclast by Dominus, a powerful entity of corruption and tyranny. Each Master offers unique quests, training, mission variations, item crafting and modification options, secret and customizable towns known as Hideouts, tiers of Hideout decorations, and more in exchange for an Exile's help. New Challenge Leagues, revamped boss fights, new lore, new Unique items, new skill and support gems, a PvP Spectator Mode, and dozens of other additions have also been implemented as part of the Forsaken Masters expansion.

Path of Exile - Catarina Preview @ MMORPG

Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile is set to receive its second major expansion on August 20th, and we caught up with Lead Designer Chris Wilson to reveal two of Forsaken Masters' big new features: the Witch Catarina, Master of the Dead and the Standard Challenge League coming with the expansion: The Rampage League. But first, just what is Forsaken Masters all about?

Path of Exile - Interview & Questions Answered

Even excellence can be improved. This seems to be Path of Exile developer Grinding Gears Games' philosophy, a philosophy readily apparent not just in the aforementioned action role-playing game's overall quality, but in the clear zeal the Grinding Gear leaders have for their art. Each time I interact with a member of Path of Exile's development team, I'm struck by the breathless passion which talents like lead designer Chris Wilson can barely contain. It is with this same passion that Wilson recently described to me the upcoming Path of Exile expansion called Forsaken Masters, which will seek penance on August 20th.

Grinding Gear Games also posted a new FAQ on the games forum that answers questions from the community about the expansion.

The purpose of this article is to explain our design direction behind the expansion and how some of the new features work. There are plenty of other changes that aren't described in this article. Any information in here may change before it's released.

General Goals For Expansion

We had five broad goals for the design of the Forsaken Masters mini-expansion:

To add new content that augments the entire game and is available to low level players in their first playthrough of Normal difficulty.

To make sure that all of the new content is also available inside of end-game Maps.

To improve crafting options while not making it too easy to get the best items.

To rebalance the game around various changes like the fix to snapshotting and the updated passive tree.

To add some awesome fun content that appeals to our core community and also people who only want to log in for a little while each day.

Path of Exile - Forsaken Masters Announced

Coming on August 20!

Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters will be released at 3pm on August 20 (US Pacific Time). This is midnight in the CEST timezone and 10am on August 21 in New Zealand.

This article is not the full patch notes for Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters. We'll be releasing those patch notes a day or two before the expansion is released. There are dozens of other changes included such as a new Quest Tracker, Tutorials and PvP Spectator Mode.

We're so proud of this expansion and can't wait to share it with you. There are so many interesting mission variations to explore and powerful new possibilities with crafting. Half of our development team is addicted to building custom Hideouts! Over the next three weeks we'll be updating this article with reveals of unannounced Masters and other content. Enjoy!

Monday - July 28, 2014

Path of Exile - Countdown to Next Expansion

Grinding Gear Games posted news on the games forum with a countdown for the release of the next expansion, and information on a new patch for Path of Exile.

The Countdown to the Next Expansion is On!

The deployment of 1.1.5d today (patch notes here) has started a one-month countdown to our next major content release - the upcoming expansion in August. We have some great teaser screenshots planned for the next week, leading up to the grand reveal of the expansion's name, theme, lore and features a week from now. We have a really full schedule of previews and updates over the next month, so remember to check the news every day!

The expansion will be released at 10am NZ time on Thursday, August 21.

Path of Exile - Expansion Announcement

Many players have been asking for an update on when we're going to start releasing information about the August mini-expansion and new challenge leagues. Today's news post should shed some light on the current schedule we're working towards.

We'll post some screenshots of upcoming content (that doesn't spoil the theme of the expansion) next week and will start teasing expansion content towards the end of the week. A firm release date will probably be announced around that time also.

I'm making sure that when we post our first in-depth article about the expansion, it'll cover most of the information at once. We'll be announcing some information through press partners over the coming weeks, but will of course link to it from the news here and the main expansion information article. We're very excited about finally sharing details of what we've been working on!

In addition to the main news article, we'll also update the Development Manifesto at the time with discussion about the motivation behind (and specific details of) various changes we're making.

There's currently a pair of one-month leagues running that end on August 9, NZ time. We're expecting to post an infographic about the leagues once they've completed. Is there any data you'd like to see in that infographic that we don't normally cover?

Friday - July 11, 2014

Path of Exile - New Graphic Novel

Grinding Gear Games send news they are collaborating with Dynamite Entertainment to release a new graphic novel for Path of Exile.

Grinding Gear Games and Dynamite Entertainment Team Up for Path of Exile Graphic Novel

Four serialized issues featuring all-new Path of Exile lore and artwork from artist Carlos Rodriguez with writers Royal McGraw and Edwin McRae

Auckland, New Zealand - July 9, 2014 - Grinding Gear Games, developer of the critically-acclaimed action role-playing videogame Path of Exile, today announced that it will be partnering with comic book and graphic novel publisher Dynamite Entertainment to launch a four-issue comic book series based on Path of Exile. Featuring canonized lore based on the in-game world of Wraeclast, this is the first time the Path of Exile IP has been utilized in a medium outside of the game.

Planned for a summer release, the first issue of the Path of Exile comic series will reveal backstory from an upcoming, unannounced expansion, weaving elements from the existing in-game narrative with an entirely new and gripping conflict. Each 22-page issue will release digitally with individual cover art, and the entire series will ultimately be compiled as a full-color, printed graphic novel, and be published by Dynamite next year. Additionally, each issue will feature unique in-game bonuses for players of Path of Exile, such as armor cosmetic effects, among other surprises.

In close collaboration with Grinding Gear Games' Creative Director Erik Olofsson and Narrative Designer Edwin McRae, the Path of Exile comic series will be illustrated by Carlos Rodriguez and written by Royal McGraw. Carlos Rodriguez is a comic artist with published work in series such as Nightwing and Teen Titans (DC Comics), as well as in Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk and X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas (Marvel), among countless others. Royal McGraw is a professional writer who has penned projects for DC Comics, Syfy Channel, Electronic Arts, and other top-tier entertainment companies.

"We are thrilled to be working with Grinding Gear Games on this," said Rich Young, Dynamite's Director of Business Development, who is also serving as Editor on the project. "The work being produced by the creative team is really top notch, and it's tying in seamlessly to the game, thanks to Edwin and Erik. I think that fans of Path of Exile are really going to enjoy this series, which adds to the depth of the game, but in a different medium."

Path of Exile is an online action role-playing game set in a dark fantasy world. Playing as one of seven unique character classes, players find themselves banished for their past misdeeds to world of Wraeclast. There, they encounter hundreds of species of deadly enemies laden with loot and mysterious artifacts as they explore the abandoned continent. With over 5.5 million and counting registered users, Path of Exile has received universal critical acclaim, including 2013 Game of the Year awards from leading game sites such as GameSpot and PC PowerPlay.

More information about Path of Exile and the Path of Exile graphic novel can be found on the game's website at www.pathofexile.com.

Thursday - July 03, 2014

Path of Exile - Launches In Brazil

The following news is for any of our Brazilian readers as Grinding Gear Games sent out a press release the games is now available to play in your market.

PATH OF EXILE LAUNCHES IN BRAZIL

UOL BoaCompra and Grinding Gear Games Partner to bring popular action RPG to Brazil

(São Paulo) July 2, 2014 - UOL BoaCompra, the leader in emerging markets and digital goods payments in Latin America, today announced a partnership with Grinding Gear Games to bring its popular, highly acclaimed action RPG Path of Exile to gamers in Brazil.

With this partnership, UOL BoaCompra's payment methods will allow Path of Exile players in Brazil the ability make purchases in-game using their preferred payment methods. To provide even further coverage for the dark and gritty action RPG, the payments giant will also monetize the game throughout Latin America, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. The partnership grants UOL BoaCompra exclusive monetization rights for Path of Exile in Brazil and will ensure that local customer support, payment gateways, and marketing through Brazil's largest content portal, UOL, will be provided.

"We have an avid player base in Brazil, so we're excited to finally be able to deliver the full Path of Exile experience and introduce the game to a whole new audience," said Chris Wilson, Managing Director for Grinding Gear Games. "UOL BoaCompra understands the Brazilian market very well and takes an innovative approach to deliver a high quality service to the Latin American community."

"Path of Exile is one of the most exciting RPG's we've seen in a while, and their community is growing rapidly in Brazil," said Christian Borneman, Head of Global Business Development for UOL BoaCompra. "The game's features - the ability to trade, modify, build characters, and challenge one another - is a perfect fit for Brazilian gamers who strongly prefer games with unique and social strategies; we're excited to bring such an acclaimed title to our gaming community."

To celebrate the launch, Grinding Gear Games is offering an exclusive pack valued at R$89 BRL ($40 USD). The pack will be available to all Path of Exile players for one week and includes:

400 Path of Exile Points ($40 USD)

Royal Green Frog - FREE

Divine Sign - FREE

Back Attachment - FREE

Premium Stash Tab - FREE

The popular online PC action role-playing game features ethical microtransactions; the game is free-to-play, but never pay-to-win. Playing as one of seven character classes, players find themselves banished for their past misdeeds to the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. There, they encounter hundreds of species of opponents laden with loot and mysterious artifacts as they explore the abandoned continent.

Saturday - May 17, 2014

Path of Exile - Charity Race Raises $20K

Grinding Gear Games sent out a new press release with news about their charity race entering week two, and mentions they have raised almost $20K for Child's Play.

Path of Exile's First Ever Charity Race Raises Almost $20K (so far) to Benefit Child's Play

With one week left, over 3,600 Angelic Masks have been sold!

Auckland, New Zealand - May 15, 2014 - Grinding Gear Games announced today that their first charity race event has already raised almost $20,000 to benefit the Child's Play charity. The event, which started on Saturday, May 10, 2014 in the Path of Exile game, will continue to run till Saturday, May 24, 1:00 PM PST.

The exclusive item on sale for this charity event, the Angelic Mask, has sold over 3,600 units at a cost of $5.00 a piece, and is only available during the two week event. 100% of the proceeds are donated directly to the Child's Play charity.

Participants of the event will be eligible to win great in-game prizes, which include special micro-transactions as well as signed art from Path of Exile. Additionally, Grinding Gear Game's partners such as NVIDIA, Razer, and Turtle Beach have contributed an awesome array of keyboards, mice, and graphics cards that will also be awarded to participants. Grinding Gear Games will pick winners randomly from the participants whose characters reach the following levels or higher. Participants can win prizes from multiple tiers as their characters level up.

Monday - May 12, 2014

Path of Exile - Review @ RPGamer

After spending nearly two hundred hours playing with my first character, mostly solo, entirely with self-found gear, I reached a new appreciation for how perfectly balanced and addictive Path of Exile is straight through to the post-game. I've finished several acts co-op with my brother, joined strangers for post-game map runs, exchanged currency in trade chat, and looked up ideal passive tree progressions and skill combinations online, and yet nothing compares to feeling elated when a foe drops a unique post-game map or an extremely rare, valuable currency item. Endlessly customizable and endlessly replayable, I wish I had the time to try every build that appeals to me, and I haven't felt this way about an action RPG since Lord of Destruction. Grinding Gear Games has created something special here, and given it gratis to the world.

Wednesday - May 07, 2014

Path of Exile - First Ever Charity Race

Grinding Gear Games sent a press release out about an upcoming charity event to help Child's Play. Here are the details if you're interested in helping.

Path of Exile First Ever Charity Race to Benefit Child's Play

Grinding Gear Games Partners with NVIDIA and Razer for a Two Week Event that Benefits Both the Player and a Great Cause

Auckland, New Zealand - May 5, 2014 - Grinding Gear Games announced today that they are launching a two-week Path of Exile Ambush/Invasion race event to benefit the Child's Play charity. The event will start at 1pm Pacific on Saturday, May 10, 2014 in the Path of Exile game and run till Saturday, May 24, 1pm Pacific.

Grinding Gear Games has created an exclusive new helmet skin call the Angelic Mask specifically for this charity event. The mask will cost $5.00 and only be available during the two week event with 100% of the proceeds being donated directly to the Child's Play charity.

Participants during the event will be able to win great in-game prizes such as special micro-transactions as well as signed art from Path of Exile. Additionally, Grinding Gear Game's partners such as NVIDIA and Razer have contributed an awesome array of keyboards, mice and graphic cards that will also be awarded to participants. Grinding Gear Games will pick winners randomly from the participants whose characters reach the following levels or higher. Participants can win prizes from multiple tiers as their characters level up.

Tuesday - April 22, 2014

Path of Exile - Development Manifesto

The Return of the Development Manifesto

The Development Manifesto is a set of articles that discusses our development philosophies, upcoming content and changes we're internally testing. It currently only contains seven articles, but we'll be expanding it over the coming weeks to cover many other topics. Please check it out and let us know if you have any feedback!

Thursday - April 17, 2014

Path of Exile - Review @ Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Sometimes it takes a while to make a judgement. I spent a fair amount of time with Path Of Exile’s beta but hadn’t revisited the release version for more than seven or eight hours in total until I decided to write something about it a few weeks ago. Now that I’ve been back to the grim shores of Wraeclast for a long vacation and have stared deep into the heart of the passive skill tree’s labyrinth depths, I’m ready to tell you wot I think.

Six users have killed Atziri in Ambush now! It'll be very interesting to see how many more join their ranks over the weekend.

The San Francisco fan meetup (mid afternoon, Sunday March 16, mail chris@grindinggear.com for more info) has a pretty decent list of people attending so far! Roughly 10 developers and 40 community members are likely to be there, with more joining the list every day.

In the past we've given a lot of advance notice about patches, usually starting a week out or so. Today we deployed 1.1.1 abruptly with half an hour of warning. Which approach do you prefer?

Saturday - March 08, 2014

Path of Exile - Three Recent Patches

by Couchpotato, 05:56

Grinding Gear Games has a new forum post for Path of Exile with information the Mini-Expansion Sacrifice of the Vaal has received three new patches.

Since Sacrifice of the Vaal's release yesterday, we've released three patches. The first two (1.1.0b and 1.1.0c) were deployed using new technology that allows us to release patches without restarting the game servers. The final patch, 1.1.0d, was a more substantial one that required a server restart because of complex changes. These patches went well - there are more coming next week including hopefully the larger 1.1.1 update!

Exilic is running a Path of Exile levelling competition at 8pm CET Sunday March 9 (that's 8am Monday NZ time, which is 11am Sunday PST). They invited many of our top streamers to compete and the competition is being commentated by Kripparrian. Rory (one of our designers) is also being interviewed at the event. There are also prizes, provided by both us and Exilic. The link to the stream is http://www.twitch.tv/exilic.

Friday - March 07, 2014

Path of Exile - Inteview @ IncGamers

IncGamers interviews Chris Wilson the Managing Director of Grinding Gear Games to talk about the games new expansion Sacrifice of the Vaal.

IncGamers: Firstly, are your servers ready for the huge influx of players :)?

Chris Wilson: Yep! We have a good idea what to expect from the previous public release (Open Beta last January, full Release in October, etc).

What are you most excited about so far from the development of Sacrifice of the Vaal (SotV)?

Chris Wilson: I’m most excited about the special craftable chests in the Ambush league. It’s an idea I proposed over a year ago, but we needed to find the right place to introduce it. It was very easy to slot it into these four-month leagues once we had development resources to work on it.

What have you learned from the development of SotV so far?

Chris Wilson: We’ve learned that it’s both easy and fun to put together a very cohesive Path of Exile mini-expansion themed around Sacrifice and Corruption. We have many ideas for future mini-expansion themes and are really looking forward to selecting from them for the next one.

Any ideas that haven’t made it into Sacrifice of the Vaal because of the bigger expansion and possible Act 4?

Chris Wilson: We managed to pack everything we wanted into SotV! Act 4 and its associated large expansion are in the works, but we have at least one more mini-expansion before they’re ready.

Anything you’d like to say to your fans before the release of SotV?

Chris Wilson: I’d like to thank the fans for their amazing support, great feedback and inspirational level of creativity they show with character builds. Thanks!

Special thanks to Chris and his team for providing those answers on short notice. With only a few hours remaining, Chris has acknowledged the 1.1.0 skill tree for the Offline Skill Tree Calculator on Reddit is legit but already out of date, so any info from gleaned the screenshots around the web and those below may not be final.

Thursday - March 06, 2014

Path of Exile - Sacrifice of the Vaal Released

Grinding Gear Games has a new forum post for Path of Exile with informatioin the Mini-Expansion called Sacrifice of the Vaal is now available for free to all players.

Sacrifice of the Vaal is now Live!

We've successfully deployed Sacrifice of the Vaal and the new Ambush and Invasion challenge leagues have begun! The first 50 players to kill Queen Atziri and her minions in each of the new challenge leagues will receive an exclusive new microtransaction effect only available from this competition. For more rules, click through for the full news post. Also, our latest cosmetic skins - the Seraph Armour Skins are now available. Thanks so much for the generous support and enjoy Sacrifice of the Vaal!

Here are some more notes on the competition:

To qualify, you need to be one of the first 50 people in Ambush or one of the first 50 people in Invasion league to complete the Challenge called "Kill Atziri and her Guardians". We are using the challenge-tracking system to track this.

Standard and Hardcore kills do not count for this competition.

Atziri and the four other Unique monsters in the Apex of Sacrifice must be killed.

GGG staff members are not eligible to win the prize.

We'll show what the prize looks like within the next few days in the news :)

Path of Exile - Editorial @ Polygon

When action-RPG Path of Exile was launched last year, developer Grinding Gear Games was clear. It would be an "ethical" free-to-play without any compromises to the evils of pay-to-win.

That meant no XP boosts or weapon upgrades, just for flashing a credit card. No expensive steeds or portals for fast-traveling. No intrusive ads and invitations to spend money on fancy new characters.

So how has the Diablo 2-style game been faring in the rough and tumble of the actual, open market?

Pretty good, it turns out. The New Zealand developer boasts over 5 million registered players with "hundreds of thousands" playing at any given time. Its first major expansion, Sacrifice of Vaal, is out next week.

"We probably would be making more income if we were pay-to-win," said lead programmer Jonathan Rogers. "But the game is doing very well. We paid off our development costs, the company is making enough money to expand."

Sacrifice of Vaal adds extra PvP content, a new race of dark-magic wielders and the ability to charge up super-powered weapons by killing monsters. But there will be no change to the game's low-key monetization policy.

"We would never want to compromise the game," said lead designer Chris Wilson. He added that gouging and persistent monetization policies generally hide game mechanics that are built around profits. The only way to win with a non-intrusive approach is to "make a really good game that people love to play."

Tuesday - March 04, 2014

Path of Exile - Editorial @ Gamasutra

by Couchpotato, 05:10

Gamasutra has a new article that talks about the mechanics, and ethics of how free-to-play is used in Path of Exile. It's worth a read for any fans of the game.

Over 5 million people have signed up to Path of Exile. "Roughly" 1.2 million people are expected to play its next expansion during the month of its release, Chris Wilson, managing director of Grinding Gear Games, its developer, tells Gamasutra.

The game -- a Diablo-esque dungeon crawler -- is completely free-to-play. Its microtransactions are entirely cosmetic and have no effect on the gameplay -- and its gameplay is tuned like a premium game, with no stopgaps or gates. Yet its developers are wildly successful.

Path of Exile - Sacrifice of the Vaal Trailer

When we released Path of Exile in October, we promised a major content update (a mini-expansion) every four months. Sacrifice of the Vaal is our first such major update, and will be released on March 5 as a free update to the game.

While this article is not the full patch notes, it covers most of the major new content and features of Sacrifice of the Vaal:

Sunday - February 23, 2014

Path of Exile - Sacrifice of the Vaal Updates

by Couchpotato, 04:25

Grinding Gear Games has a forum post for Path of Exile with more information on the Mini-Expansion Sacrifice of the Vaal. Here are the details.

After announcing the name and theme of Sacrifice of the Vaal a week ago, today's update covers the overall scope of the mini-expansion. We've modified our promotional image to detail the specific areas that SotV improves, including a reveal of a new currency item and the names of the new challenge leagues. Full information will be revealed with the press embargo lifts on March 1. Let the speculation continue!

We released a few teasers this week and have many more planned for next week. Here are the ones so far:

Monday - February 17, 2014

Path of Exile - Sacrifice of the Vaal Expansion

by Couchpotato, 05:18

Grinding Gear Games has a new forum post for Path of Exile with informatioin the Mini-Expansion is called Sacrifice of the Vaal. Here are the details.

Path of Exile's first mini-expansion, Sacrifice of the Vaal, launches at 1pm PST on March 5. It expands the core game and sets the pace for our ongoing four-monthly updates. Today we're proud to announce both the name and theme of the update, while teasing some of the scope of how far the Vaal corruption has spread through Wraeclast

Saturday - February 08, 2014

Path of Exile - Mini-Expansion Announcement

Our first major update to Path of Exile (a mini-expansion with version number 1.1.0) will be released on March 5. This update has a name and theme that will be revealed next week. We've lined up several teasers and updates for you during the month of February and wanted to shed some light on when you can expect various reveals.

As usual, we're working on this content right up until the last minute. We're expecting to tease features over the course of the month (with early screenshots). We will fully announce how the new systems work at the culmination of our press tour in late February, as the details will be locked down by then.

Wednesday - January 29, 2014

Path of Exile - Update 1.0.6 Preview

We've released a video showing some of the new content from this week's 1.0.6 content update, including four new summoner skills, a Unique item, Hillock's Zombie Slam, adding notes to friends and the new helmet microtransactions. We have also pushed back deployment of 1.0.6 back by one day to Thursday (NZ time) so that we are able to fully test some last-minute changes.

Wednesday - January 22, 2014

Path of Exile - 1.0.5b Patch Notes

We've deployed 1.0.5b and have posted its patch notes here. A copy of the community interview that occurred on the weekend has been posted by its hosts and can be heard here. It's over an hour long and covers a lot of topics!

We've recently finished some technology that will allow us to make serverside updates to Path of Exile without needing downtime. It's likely to be in the 1.0.6 or 1.1.0 patch (after being sufficiently tested). Once this is deployed, we'll be able to hotfix server problems (like bugs or balance issues) in a non-disruptive way. This will probably mean that we deploy small updates more regularly and will be extremely valuable after large patches where it's extremely important to be able to deploy minor fixes quickly and without rebooting all the servers.

I also wanted to clarify that Act 4 is not part of March's 1.1.0 content update. There is a pile of new content, including some new game areas, but an entire Act takes way more than four months to create. While most of the community understand that Acts can take over a year to produce (depending on how much funding we have available), I've been seeing posts where people were confused about the word "expansion" that I used to describe the March update. While we think of it as an expansion because it contains so many different things, it doesn't have the new character class or new act that people seem to expect from the word. Because of this, we've moved away from using that language. What's something called that's a lot larger than a regular content update but smaller than the gigantic update that will introduce Act 4? A mini-expansion? Either way, the March update has its own name and you'll find out information starting in early February :)

Tuesday - January 14, 2014

Path of Exile - Review @ PC Gamer

If you play action-RPGs as a cathartic power trip, to slam into monstrous hordes and watch their bloody bodies ragdoll across the scenery, then Path of Exile will seem dry. It’s not a game about instant gratification, it’s about slowly forging an inventive character over three acts and three difficulty tiers. Once it has its claws in, Path of Exile is as compulsive as any other in the genre. After a few hours the combat becomes automatic. The objectives are moot, the quests, characters and creatures incidental. Every stab and slash is in service of the real journey across that vast levelling board. Every 500 to 1,000 clicks lights up another node, and the little warrior mannequin takes another step away from being a template and toward something that’s uniquely yours.

Wednesday - January 08, 2014

Path of Exile - Readers Choice @ IncGamers

Path of Exile was without a doubt the stand-out ARPG this year, so this is a wise choice from our readers. It shines with its unique skill system, a massive passives tree, regularly updated content from Grinding Gear Games… and it’s also free-to-play, with no pay-to-win microstransactions. The game launched back in September following what has to be one of the longest beta tests we can remember and since then it’s been constantly updated with new features. Next year GGG plan on releasing the first major content update expanding the world of Wraeclast, so there’s still a lot more to come. As an indie developer, what they have managed to achieve with this game is extremely impressive.

Friday - January 03, 2014

Path of Exile - 2013 Summary

by Couchpotato, 04:26

Grinding Gear Games has a new post with details on the progress of Path of Exile in 2013, and wishes you a Happy New Year.

Path of Exile: 2013 in Summary

It's just about to become 2014 in New Zealand, so we've decided to post a short retrospective on what has been the most exciting year of Path of Exile's history. PoE's success in 2013 is almost entirely due to our amazing community. Your patience, support, feedback and dedication have allowed us to grow Path of Exile into the game we always wanted it to be. Thank you for an amazing year - we're looking forward to making 2014 even better!

In 2013:

Path of Exile evolved from Closed Beta to Open Beta (late January) and then to full Release (late October).

Sunday - December 29, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ RPGFan

Preference among Diablo, Torchlight, and Path of Exile may be a matter of taste. To be quite honest, all three series have proven themselves to be top-notch experiences in the realm of action RPGs. In terms of atmosphere and the unique approach to character building, each latest title offers an engaging experience guaranteed to wile away the hours. I've immersed myself in each world, and although I'll happily play the next title in each series, for right now Path of Exile stands above the rest.

Path of Exile - Game of the Year @Gamespot

Who would have thought that Blizzard Entertainment, the uber-successful creator of the world's most revered action role-playing games, would be out-Diablo'd? A year after Diablo III was released, developer Grinding Gear Games created a dark and oppressive clickfest that seemingly rose from the ashes of Diablo II. After a notably long beta period, Path of Exile was released to great acclaim in 2013--yet, somehow, doesn't cost a penny to download, play, and love.

So yes, it's a wonder that Path of Exile is free, though you can certainly toss some cash the developer’s way by buying unnecessary cosmetic enhancements. But Path of Exile’s greatness has little to do with its price, or lack thereof, but is instead a result of its ridiculously complex skill tree, exciting action, and moody atmosphere. At first, the adventure hews closely to its obvious inspiration, but this familiarity is merely a stepping stone that allows Path of Exile to find its footing. Once it's clear you are on rock-solid ground, the game establishes an identity all its own--an identity that makes Path of Exile a worthy winner of GameSpot's award for 2013 PC game of the year.

Tuesday - December 03, 2013

Path of Exile - Game Status & Update

Grinding Gear Games has a new press release about Path of Exile. It contains information about the amount of registered users, and talks about a new patch.

New Supporter Packs available; Version 1.0.2 now live

Auckland, New Zealand - December 2, 2013 - Grinding Gear Games today announced that their popular action RPG, Path of Exile, has exceeded initial expectations just one month after the game's official launch.

With over 4 million and counting registered users and more than 250,000 daily users, Path of Exile saw 1.5 million unique players log in following the end of its Open Beta. Path of Exile has also garnered a wealth of critical acclaim across the globe, including top scores from leading game sites such as IGN and GameSpot.

New Supporter Packs

Additionally, Grinding Gear Games has given both new and old community members the chance to support the game and receive exclusive bonuses through the purchase of all-new Supporter Packs. Thanks to the generous contributions of thousands of members of the Path of Exile community, the sales of Supporter Packs have funded a significant portion of the game's development, contributing to content and server costs throughout both the Closed and Open Betas.

These Supporter Packs offer a wide range of bonuses including Points (used for microtransactions), cosmetic item and spell effects, forum titles, alternate in-game social portraits, Path of Exile shirts/hoodies, the extended digital soundtrack, and more, with each tier containing more enticing rewards than the last.

Supporter Packs are now available for purchase in the following tiers:

Version 1.0.2

Furthermore, the latest update to Path of Exile, Version 1.0.2, went live last Wednesday, November 27. Version 1.0.2 includes several new Unique items, vendor recipes, achievements, and microtransactions, as well as final touches on the rapid-fire PvP Tournaments, various bug fixes, and some balancing changes to the game's damage over time mechanics.

Wednesday - November 27, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ IncGamers

GGG have to be commended for keeping pay-to-win away from POE but it’s going to be up to the community to support the game. If the current pool of store items are enough to fund the game and further content development the future looks bright, but players will have to keep playing and new offers will have to be added all the time to keep that cash coming in.

Having played the game for a long time now on and off, it’s not easy to write about it, as most of the game features have been written about to death over the past couple of years here on IncGamers. In all the time playing over the past 12 months or so it’s apparent that Path of Exile does most things right if you’re looking for a new ARPG – it can look a little rough around the edges in places and there are minor connectivity issues from time to time, but these are not major issues when you consider what’s on offer.

Over the years I’ve played more ARPGs and free-to play-titles than you can throw a fireball at, and I think I can safely say that this is one of the best ARPGs around at the moment. It’s certainly the best free-to-play title I’ve played in a long time. I think GGG nailed it.

Thursday - November 21, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ Techraptor

If you are extremely into cut-scenes and graphics from Blizzard’s offering, you may want to look further. I have yet to see a cut scene, but as a person who does not tend to get into the backstory of a game all that much, this is a minor omission. The graphics in this game are not bad, but they are not quite up to par with Blizzard’s offering. The background music is quite repetitive and i have found myself humming it more than once However, these things do not make me enjoy the game any less, and with the recent update on 11/12/13, the game added some effects to weapons that I had not noticed in the past. This has me excited, in that it seems that the graphics and individual weapon development will be a continuing effort from the development team. Additionally, it seems as though there are many graphical and cosmetic changes available in the freemium store, but I tend to avoid real-money marketplaces at all costs, so I will leave that aspect of the game for you to explore.

Tuesday - November 12, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ IGN

by Couchpotato, 00:29

IGN reviews Path of Exile and awards the game with a score of 8.8/10. Here is the verdict from the reviews conclusion.

Path of Exile successfully captures the spirit of older action RPGs and updates it for an experience that's as visually appealing as it's fun. The combat itself doesn't differ much from other examples in the genre, but Path of Exile distinguishes itself with a unique ability system based on gems and a labyrinthine passive skill system that permits the creation of almost any type of character. Leaderboards, PvP options, and lootable challenge maps spice up the higher level content, and an unusual bartering system staves off inflation in its multiplayer aspects. Best of all, it's free almost to a fault, revealing a compelling alternative path for free-to-play projects to come.

Sunday - November 10, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ Gamespot

Considering that Path of Exile costs you nothing beyond some Internet bandwidth, it provides an embarrassment of pleasures. If you like standing out in a crowd, you could toss Grinding Gear Games some cash by purchasing a cosmetic accessory, like a nature aura to surround your wand, or a pet ferret to tail you. I'm so fully committed to Path of Exile that I've spent a bit of coin myself, and my witch is only one of many wayfarers I intend to guide through Wraeclast. Many mysteries still await me, even in the savage regions I've already charted.

Saturday - November 09, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ GameDynamo

Now, as a completely free F2P game, Path of Exile’s community is pretty hit-or-miss, but besides that, the F2P system in PoE is actually very well-balanced. All cash shop items are cosmetic-only except for the ability to create guilds and obtain additional stash storage. GGG will presumably release additional content in the future that may be gated by the cash shop, but for now, anyone can hop in and experience everything the game has to offer for free. It’s a sweet deal.

As you’d expect from a free game, there's a slight amount of bugs to contend with as well as periods of the day when the servers can seem a bit laggy. GGG has been pretty awesome when it comes to fixing said bugs, however. The graphics and music in Path of Exile are solid for an F2P game and offer some great sights and sounds to the dark fantasy ARPG genre. There are no fancy Blizzard-style cutscenes, but hey—ARPGs are all about the action, right?

For a completely free game, Path of Exile has a lot to offer. The myriad of customization options alone makes this a solid contender in the world of ARPGs, and if GGG plays their cards right, this hidden gem in the messy world of F2P games could stick around for years to come.

Friday - November 01, 2013

Path of Exile - Podcast @ RPGamer

Path of Exile, the Diablo-style free-to-play ARPG from Grinding Gear Games, officially launched last week on Steam and the official Path of Exile website. Prior to launch, the New Zealand based developers flew in to Los Angeles to give local press some hands-on time and a preview of what was coming at launch.

I spent about 30 minutes with the new Scion class and dove a bit into the massive Final Fantasy X Sphere Grid-like skill system in PoE, but 30 minutes isn't nearly enough time to get a good feel for all of the complicated customization options going in the game, especially not on a prestige class like the Scion. My first impression of the game is this is a game for anyone who complained that Diablo III was too easy or lacked a real sense of character building and customization. This is definitely a game with the hardcore ARPG fan in mind, especially those who loved Diablo II.

To find out more about Path of Exile and everything that Grinding Gear Games has in store for the game, check out the latest episode of Dialog Trees. In this 20 minute episode I get a full rundown of the game and more.

Monday - October 28, 2013

Path of Exile - Podcast @ IncGamers

by Couchpotato, 04:05

IncGamers has a new podcast with Grinding Gear Games Chris Wilson to talk about Path of Exile's launch last week.

Grinding Gear Games’ Chris Wilson joins the IncGamers Podcast team to chat about Path of Exile as part of the game’s launch week as the studio gets ready to launch the game today. Where is he sleeping? What is he eating? All these important questions and more are answered.

Saturday - October 26, 2013

Path of Exile - Review @ Eurogamer

It's free-to-play done well and it's not at all invasive, so I'm a little sad to say I'm unsure how effective a revenue generator it will be. Though it's not an unattractive game, Path of Exile doesn't have Torchlight 2's sense of style or Diablo 3's polish. Its cosmetics are fairly expensive, with $30 getting you a pet, a soundtrack and 200 points. 200 points might buy one or two customisations, but it won't even stretch to some of the weapon effects. You could blow it all on just expanding your stash, or one piece of headgear.

But how you choose to spend your money is your business. If this payment model works out for the developer Grinding Gear, I'll be very pleased. Path of Exile isn't a great action RPG, but it's a pretty good one, it's off to a promising start and the developer says it has a lot planned for the months and years ahead.

I can't say what their future holds as I'm not much of an economist (nor am I really a magpie). But I can say I've had many, many hours of fun in a game that still has much more to show me and which all of us, right now, can play for nothing at all. We're being spoiled.

Thursday - October 24, 2013

Path of Exile - Officially Released

by Couchpotato, 00:30

Path of Exile has been officially released today you can download the game for free on Steam, or the games webpage.

You are an Exile, struggling to survive on the dark continent of Wraeclast, as you fight to earn power that will allow you to exact your revenge against those who wronged you. Created by hardcore gamers, Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in a dark fantasy world. With a focus on visceral action combat, powerful items and deep character customization, Path of Exile is completely free and will never be pay-to-win.

Key Features

Freedom. Power. Revenge.Banished for your misdeeds to the dark, brutal world of Wraeclast, you play as the Duelist, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Marauder, Shadow or the newly added Scion class. From forsaken shores through to the ruined city of Sarn, explore Wraeclast and uncover the ancient secrets waiting for you.

Dressed to Kill Path of Exile is all about items. Find, collect and trade magic, rare and unique items with arcane properties, then customize your character build around the deadliest combinations you possess.

Brutal Competitive PlayBattle in PvP tournaments seasons and Capture the Flag events for worldwide recognition. Compete in Daily Leagues and Race Events that run as separate game worlds with their own ladders and economies to win valuable prizes.

Fair-To-Play. Never Pay-To-Win. We're committed to creating a fair playing field for all players. You cannot gain gameplay advantage by spending real money in Path of Exile.

Tuesday - October 22, 2013

Path of Exile - Interview @ IncGamers

GGG started in 2006 so it’s been a long journey to get Path of Exile launched. How are you feeling now a few days before launch?

It has been an awesome journey! At the moment the team is working very hard on the last 100 or so issues. At the time of writing there are five days until release so we’re performing last minute fixes and quality assurance. While I always wish we had more time, I’m so proud of this version of Path of Exile and am really looking forward to launch day where we get to share it with the public.

Looking back at the game’s development is there anything you would have done differently as far as GGG as a company is concerned?

I’m honestly struggling to think of anything that I would have done differently as a company. We’ve retained our independence and still own almost all of the company ourselves. This independence has made it a lot easier to create Path of Exile to our vision rather than someone else’s.

Path of Exile has had one of the longest beta tests I can remember but was that something you had always planned or was it more of a necessity as a learning process for the team?

I remember thinking “we need at least a year of a live economy before we perform our final wipe”, and hence I’m glad that we were able to run a long Closed Beta before we wiped the game at the start of Open Beta in January. The lessons we learnt during that time really paid off and resulted in a much stronger item economy. To some extent we’ve been worried about the overall Beta period running for so long because there’s a propensity for modern games to stay in Beta forever and to use it as an excuse for quality. We’re looking forward to finally being released!

Wednesday - October 16, 2013

Path of Exile - Beta Review @ 30Plusgamer

Back when Diablo 2 hit the scene in 2000, it became one of the most popular games that have been released. There was some fleeting success carried over from the Diablo prequel, but Diablo 2 took the ball and ran faster than anyone expected. The action adventure style, overhead viewing RPG, is a fun genre of game that many have tried to copy, but has never had the success as Blizzard has with the Diablo franchise.

Well, this writer says, move over Blizzard. Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile will bring success that you could not fathom, even with Diablo 3.

Saturday - October 12, 2013

Path of Exile - Preview @ Gamedynamo

Having played a demo with a few high level characters, Path of Exile is definitely something to behold once you get your mind around how deep yet accessible the skill gem system and skill trees are. The skill gems are used with almost any item in your inventory. The most novel use I saw was skill gems being used with a map to enhance the difficulty and awards of the bonus dungeon it's to travel to. It was also fun seeing just how switching skill gems on equipped inventory can drastically change the player's main attack. One character had a hammer that called down fireballs on the screen as he constantly called an AOE attack wherever he spun the hammer.

Wednesday - October 09, 2013

Path of Exile - Interview @The Jace Hall Show

It was 2006 when Chris Wilson, Jonathan Rogers, and Erik Olofson were per usual, heavily involved in Diablo 2 and Titan’s Quest. It had been six years since D2 had hit the scene, so naturally, what did three hardcore Action RPG gamers with a background in coding and design think?

“Why don’t we make our own action RPG?”

Prior to meeting in a Diablo 2 forum, Chris Wilson, Jonathan Rogers and Erik Olofsson had never known each other. Chris and Jonathan were programmers in New Zealand and Erik was studying industrial design…in Sweden.

Says Managing Director Chris Wilson:

“We realized there was a bit of an opportunity before the inevitable Diablo 3 announcement within a decade to make a great, loyal action RPG. We were in a situation where we had the skills between us, programming and game design, and our life savings — which is a real bad idea when you really think about it — and the three of us got together to make it happen. I remember the conversation actually, we had been playing Diablo 2 and I said I want to make a action RPG like this. I was talking to Eric (who was in Sweden) and he said he’d come to New Zealand. We set up in my garage, the three of us, trying really hard not to spend any money, we were just a bunch of kids, mid 20′s trying to make a game together.

Fast forward seven years later and the guys have done just that, having recruited over a dozen other team members to form Grinding Gear Games and create Path of Exile, which has raised over $2.5 million in crowd funding.

What makes Path of Exile so different in a sea of action RPG’s?

“We feel as action RPG purists, that action RPGs are quite different than how they used to be a decade ago, says Wilson. “We’re trying to recreate the experience of playing the first RPGs Diablo and Diablo 2 and Dungeon Siege, they’re quite different than the modern RPG, which is largely trying to gain mass market appeal.”

Saturday - October 05, 2013

Path of Exile - Interview @ News10

Later this month a new free-to-play adventure will be making its public release as Grinding Gear Games prepares Path of Exile for launch.

The game, which takes its inspiration from Blizzard's iconic title Diablo and expands upon it greatly, was funded pretty much entirely through crowdfunding. Because of that, those behind the upcoming title have been hard at work to ensure that the game's supporters get their monies' worth. In fact, since January the developers have released 25 crowdfunding-backed content patches to the game. That's nearly two per month for a game that's still in its beta phase.

"The main reason we had to do it is because our company needed the money," joked Jonathan Rogers, Lead Programmer on Path of Exile. "Like, basically the community is funding the development of Path of Exile."

Sunday - September 29, 2013

Path of Exile - Interview @ GeekParty

Path of Exile is a free-to-play game that has been funded in part by a very successful crowdfunding campaign, and has continued to gain funding by cosmetic microtransactions. PoE‘s lead developer and GGG managing director Chris Wilson has taken a pretty firm stance on allowing real world money to buy in-game power.

"We don’t want to sell anything that affects the game economy or provides a competitive advantage for one player over another. We try to completely divorce our microtransactions from the game balance. Selling items that affect a player’s stats, or can be traded, or provide some type of gameplay boost (e.g. experience potions) are examples of things that we feel would be pay-to-win."

The free-to-play model of game publication is still fairly new, creating a sort of Wild West atmosphere without firmly established norms. Games like Riot’s League of Legends have garnered huge fanbases with their model, but Wilson says that GGG are set on finding their own path.

"We’ve been really careful to try to design our microtransaction model ourselves and haven’t investigated how other popular games are handling their microtransactions (because they’re generally pay-to-win, which we don’t want)."

A few players have charged that some of the account features offered, namely stash space for storing items, violate this stance. Wilson disagrees.

"The reason that we sell storage space is because players are able to create additional free accounts that come with a reasonable amount of space each. If players want additional space but don’t want to pay, they can create more free accounts."

Friday - September 06, 2013

Path of Exile - Patch 0.11.5 Notes

by Couchpotato, 01:03

It has been a while since I posted news about Path of Exile. The games forum has news of a new patch.

We're expecting to deploy 0.11.5 in two days (Thursday, NZ time). We've prepared an early version of the patch notes that we're including in this news post to get feedback. If anything's unclear or confusing, please let us know!

They have also released a new trailer showing off the the skin transfer that's part of the patch.

Sunday - June 23, 2013

Path of Exile - Third Season of Signature Events

by Couchpotato, 00:05

Path of Exileannounces it's third season of signature events including brand new mode callled “Descent.”

Descent will reward players who have already sped through the core Path of Exile game a few times with a brand new setting. In Descent, you cannot return to town or use waypoints or portals to travel. A completely solo experience, Descent will feature its own economy of high-powered loot and monsters that exist only for the duration of the league. At the end of the event, all characters and items are destroyed.

It’s a bold move from Path of Exile, and it runs contrary to the traditional model of clicky-click-click action RPG games. Because the focus in Descent is not on building a character or collecting gold or items, developer Grinding Gear has designed Descent to be more like a traditional single-player RPG: explore a new world and experiment with new builds to survive the harrowing landscape.

Descent events will last an hour each and are the Signature Event for season three. About 50 of them will take place over six weeks beginning on June 29. Check out Path of Exile’s website for a full schedule, to be posted next week.

Sunday - June 09, 2013

Path of Exile - Supporter Packs Raise $2.5m

According to a new article on IncGamers Path of Exile has managed to raise $ 2.5 million off their support packs.The packs help fund the game, and make sure it doesn't become pay to win.

Today they revealed that the sale of the supporter packs alone has helped fund the game to the tune of $2.5 million which I think you’ll agree is a decent chunk of change. Since the open beta began they’ve been working on new pack options for players to help continue the development funding.

New packs have also been launched for anyone who wishes to support and fund the game’s development as they continue to finish Act 3 before the game releases later this year. Players of the game can get anything from a simple Baby Rhoa pet and soundtrack for $30 right through to the Ruler of Wraeclast pack for $12,500 which allows you to design your own monster in the game and all the other extras

The packs that have been put together by GGG illustrate that a game can be supported by a strong community if the game catches their imagination. If POE steers clear of a pay to win model with community support then that can only be a good thing for ARPG games.

Path of Exile - Second Phase Of Open Beta

We're now halfway through Path of Exile's Open Beta and have deployed 9 major patches and 24 minor patches in the 0.10.x series. For a while, we've been planning a major patch to herald the second phase of the Open Beta. This patch is 0.11.0 and it contains new four-month leagues with special rules, exclusive Challenges with prizes, major balance changes relating to monster damage and player life values, the introduction of item allocation options, toggleable mini health-bars, a new currency item and many other changes

Please note that this page is not the 0.11.0 patch notes! It's a list of various features we're including (which may change slightly by the time the patch is deployed). Full patch notes will be posted before deployment and linked from here when available.

Thursday - May 23, 2013

Path of Exile - Interview @ Games.On.Net

Games.On.Net has an interview with Grinding Gear Games Chris Wilson about Path of Exile.

GON: Chris, you’ve been in open beta for a little while now, since January in fact — can you tell us a little bit about how everything’s progressing?

Chris: So we’re now at 2.46 million registered users. So we had a large surge of people who became interested in the game, and who have joined our community, which has exceeded our expectations. Most of the game’s performance so far has exceeded our expectations, and this has raised some issues with how do we handle all these users, but thankfully the tests we’ve done prior to open beta were very optimistic in terms of user numbers so we were (barely) able to handle the amount of people that flooded our servers. And it did cause a few weeks of instability while we dealt with issues that only manifest when you have more than 50,000 people playing at once. But we we have those under control now.

GON: So what is your peak concurrent player count?

Chris: We’ve hit 70,000 in the first week of release. We’re very pleased with that. There was an awful lot of stuff combining at the same time with the game being very new and a lot of people talking about it which caused us to really strain the servers, but thankfully it’s dropped a bit to a more maintainable rate at the moment.

GON: Have you identified any issues in the beta that you’ll need to address going forward before launch?

Chris: We have found a lot of things based on player feedback and our own analytics that we can improve. There are various systems that we’ve been working on with the players to find better solutions to. For example loot allocation in the game, a lot of players would like it to be a bit more forgiving and less free-for-all, so we’ve been looking into a variety of options which will hopefully launch by the end of the month.

Saturday - April 20, 2013

Path of Exile - One Hour Video

by Couchpotato, 09:40

A video was posted online showcasing almost one hour of the game Path of Exile.

"My First Hour In" is a segment where I play a new game for an hour to see if it makes me want to keep playing. Why only an hour? Because I have a lot of games to play, and an hour is all you get to hold my attention.

Monday - April 15, 2013

Path of Exile - Interview @ Digitally Downloaded

DD: What challenges have you found in launching a new company and developing an entirely new IP? BW: Probably the biggest challenge overall has been raising awareness of the company and of the game itself. It seems like mundane thing, relative to actual game development, but it's probably the most important. The game development industry is extremely competitive, moving along so quickly that it's easy to get ignored or passed by. The failure rate for new companies in gaming is astoundingly high.

People may not realise it, but a huge part of PoE's success has been our constant, varied avenues of promotion. From the very first media outreach we did at PAX 2010, we have worked tirelessly to promote the game. We've done hundreds of interviews, travelled tens of thousands of miles, written thousands of articles and forum posts. The sum of this has grown PoE into what it is today, but it hasn't been easy.

The next biggest challenge has been assembling our team. New Zealand is a very small country, population-wise, with 4.4 million people. That's not even half the population of New York City. Finding a set of people with the wide range of talent PoE's development requires has taken tremendous effort and time. We haven't been short of interested candidates, especially recently, but very few have the necessary skill set to work for us. Acquiring skilled programmers locally has been the greatest obstacle to meeting our long term design goals.

Outside of promotion and personnel, the next greatest challenge has been implementing our vision for the game. We stepped into a genre that contains some of the most beloved gaming titles in history, so comparisons are inevitable. Throughout our development, we've received thousands of opinions on how our game should look and play. Everyone thinks that they understand the genre best, that their design is ideal.

In the face of so much feedback, it is very tough figuring out when you're right, and when the fans are right. If you cleave too much to your vision, you risk appearing as a hardliner, alienating a lot of players in the process. If you compromise and give in too much, you dilute your vision, and come across as weak. It's a tricky dynamic we're still learning as we move further into Open Beta.

Path of Exile - Interesting Solutions to D3's Problems

One look at the official website for Path of Exile and you can tell the developers at Grinding Gear Games have a beef with Diablo III, and, to some extent, Torchlight. They never say it outright, of course, but the site's marketing copy is filled with statements like, "The game is completely free and will never be 'pay to win,'" and, "We're sick of the recent trend towards bright, cartoony RPGs."

In interviews, Grinding Gear co-founder Jonathan Rogers has been much more specific about the studio's feelings toward Blizzard's game. "Diablo III was obviously going for a huge number of sales and they really succeeded in doing that, but we really wanted to stress character customization and sort of interesting builds and that kind of stuff," the lead programmer told VG247 last month, continuing, "Diablo III didn’t really deliver that for me, personally. I personally prefer our game, obviously. "

You'll find this attitude reflected in Path of Exile's design at almost every turn. Name something Diablo III players complained about and you're likely to find it addressed here in some respect.

By eliminating currency altogether, for example, Path of Exile doesn't struggle with gold farmers the way most online RPGs do. In place of a traditional economy, the developers have opted for a pure barter system; players trade gear for other gear, determining for themselves what their loot is worth, while NPCs exchange unwanted equipment for useful stuff like town portals and orbs that randomly adjust the stats on magic items.

Thursday - January 24, 2013

Path of Exile - Open Beta Launched

The Open Beta patch (0.10.0) has been deployed and is ready for download (just patch your existing Beta client or download a new one). The game servers will come up when the countdown timer hits zero. You can queue for login before that time if you'd like. The Closed Beta kiwi packs have been removed from the site. If you're quick you may be able to email support@grindinggear.com before the countdown hits zero to arrange a manual purchase. We can't sell any more after that deadline though.

Thursday - January 10, 2013

Path of Exile - Open Beta on January 23rd

Grinding Gear Games sent us this press release, announcing an open beta for Path of Exile later this month:

Path of Exile Launches Open Beta on January 23

"Best Upcoming Indie Game" unveils 50 percent more content in Act 3

Auckland, New Zealand-January 10, 2013- Grinding Gear Games announced today that the highly anticipated action role-playing game (RPG) Path of Exile will enter Open Beta on January 23. The game is currently in Closed Beta but has already raised over USD$1.8 million in crowd-funded support, with those supporters gaining early access to the beta. Act 3 of the Path of Exile story will also be unveiled, in which players will explore abandoned docks, markets, temples and sewers in the ruined city of Sarn to further uncover the dark truth of their exile.

"We're excited to have reached the point where we can finally throw open the doors and invite everyone in," said Chris Wilson, producer for Grinding Gear Games. "We have one of the best and most supportive communities on the Internet, and their input has been invaluable in making Path of Exile what it is. We hope they'll be delighted with all the new content."

Current players have until the Open Beta to purchase the special in-game kiwi bird pet. The permanent pet is the national symbol of New Zealand and is exclusively available to Closed Beta players. Additionally, there will be no further character wipes once Open Beta launches.

Path of Exile was recently named "Players' Choice Best Upcoming Game" by Indie DB. Over 78,000 readers voted in the awards.

Path of Exile is a PC online action role-playing game set in a dark fantasy world. Featuring ethical microtransactions, the game is free-to-play, but not pay-to-win. Playing as one of six character classes, players find themselves banished for their past misdeeds to the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. There, they will encounter hundreds of species of opponents laden with loot and mysterious artifacts as they explore the abandoned continent.

Key features of Path of Exile:

A dark and deep action RPG

Build unlimited unique characters on a gigantic skill tree

Combine over 110 skill gems to create unique combat strategies

Explore a dark and gritty world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective

Download and play for free, but never 'pay-to-win'

Explore randomly generated levels for extreme replayability

Craft weapons, magic items and even end-game maps to become more powerful

Cooperate or compete with thousands of other exiles in a persistent online world

Thursday - November 01, 2012

Path of Exile - Interview @ IncGamers

by Myrthos, 23:36

IncGamers interviews Brother Laz on his work as item creator for Path of Exile, his Median XL mod and Diablo 3.

IncGamers: Planned obsolescence for items is a big deal while leveling up characters. Developers want players to find items that feel awesome and can be used for a few levels, until something better is found. In Diablo III this system is inexorable, with item stats cranking up so that anything found at level 40 is underpowered by level 45 and useless by 50. This differs from the system in Diablo 2, where lots of low and mid level unique remained useful even in the end game. How do you approach that obsolescence balance in PoE, and how do features like item enchanting and enhancing and socketing factor into it?Laz: D3 made the mistake of balancing items based on the WoW paradigm of linear progression, which works well in a game that is about taking one character and developing it for the next two years but not in a game where rerolling is a thing. It is absolutely necessary to have a chance to find something awesome at low levels, otherwise you feel like you are wasting your time. This something awesome tends to come in the form of uniques (or powerful binary affixes like +skill levels).

Awesome low level uniques may include Johnny uniques like Springleaf in PoE and Thinking Cap in D1. The idea is that these items are so unusual they cannot directly be compared to regular items and therefore do not get overshadowed at higher levels. They could also take the form of a “Spike Jr.” item that is intentionally designed to be overpowered when you find it, then fall off later. Everyone likes stomping faces for 30 minutes.

Very high level items should generally be more Spike and less Johnny. Those one in a million items should be useful for people who actually optimise their character for the purpose of farming one in a million items, while build enablers should be widely available at low levels so the player can actually implement that build before the earth gets hit by [DATA EXPUNGED].

Monday - October 29, 2012

Path of Exile - The Areas of Act 3 @ IncGamers

Outside the Solaris Temple, the Ebony Legion wages war against a mindless army of floating, red tapestries known as the Ribbons. The shredded remains of soldiers and Ribbons alike litter the ground about the makeshift fortifications and burning incendiaries that sketch the fluctuating front lines of the ongoing battle.

By summoning a massive thaumaturgical barrier at the end of the bridge, the Legion have gained control of the only means of crossing the great river that divides the city of Sarn. It also provides them a secure foothold for their invasion of the Temple.

GON: How does that affect your level structure? You’ve already got a skill tree – or should I say a skill forest – that many users find terrifying. In a good way, obviously. How do you balance that and keep adding expansions? Chris: So the endgame that we have is somewhat separate from the actual act content — we have these randomised map areas, which is a separate topic I guess, but in terms of balancing the levelling it’s actually a very difficult question adding in another because, when people have established characters, where do the levels fit in?

A quote in how potions work in the game:

GON: Can you give me an example of that?

Chris: A good example of that is the potion system. In a lot of ARPG’s, Titan Quest, Torchlight, you buy a ton of potions and every time you’re hurt you drink one and it’s just a big homogenous stack. In Path of Exile your potions are in set flasks that are actually items that you have to upgrade, and they can be used multiple times, and they become part of your build. If you want a flask that extinguishes fire if you’ve ever been ignited, then that’s part of the way you build your character rather than just a number of potions you bought from the shop last time you were in town.

Wednesday - October 17, 2012

Path of Exile - Act 3 Details Unveiled

by Myrthos, 12:18

Grinding Gear has sent us information on the details from act 3 of Path of Exile.

The Mysteries Deepen in Action RPG Path of Exile’s Third Act

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – 17 October 2012 – Upcoming dark and deep indie action RPG Path of Exile has unveiled details of its Act 3 expansion. Set in the ruined city of Sarn, players will face those who exiled them to Wraeclast and how it was corrupted.

Act 3 will become available when Path of Exile enters Open Beta in December. The game is currently in Closed Beta but has already raised over USD$1.2m in crowd-funded support, with those supporters gaining beta access.

PvP arena combat will be introduced in the next major patch, making the wait for Act 3 more bearable but bloodier. The game’s gigantic skill tree and skill gem combo system means thousands of unique character builds will be able to challenge each other.

“Act 3 adds an extra 50% of content to Path of Exile’s world,” says Grinding Gear Games producer Chris Wilson. “Our already gritty game gets a lot darker as players explore Sarn and witness the full extent of the corruption and cataclysm. High-level characters will really enjoy some of the enemy encounters and combat challenges.”

Path of Exile’s lore and mysteries deepens as you explore Sarn’s abandoned docks, markets, temples and sewers. For reasons unknown, General Gravicius and the Ebony Legion have sailed from your homeland Oriath to scour Sarn for its secrets, joining Piety of Theopolis in a race against the player to plunder Sarn’s tombs for wealth and power.

In the Solaris Temple, a magical army of floating constructs known as the Ribbons continually sterilize the temple even as the centuries wear on. Even though thaumaturgist Malachai the Soulless is long dead, evidence of his dark experiments remain.

In addition to undead, magical constructs and corrupted horrors, players will encounter some unlikely allies. An encampment of exiles survive on the man-made island in the middle of the river, led by wise and well-spoken Karui warrior Maramoa.

When released, the game will be free to play, but not ‘pay-to-win’. The game is currently in a Closed Beta, but fans who pre-purchase at least USD$10 of credit for the game’s ‘ethical microtransactions’ receive a beta key. Beta keys are also regularly awarded to random community members.

About Sarn: A shattered city, a sinister mystery, a land tainted with insanity.You’re standing at the edge of Sarn, the ruined capital of the Eternal Empire. Not so eternal now. Its citizenry is gone, taken by death and undeath in equal measures. Where hawkers shouted their bargains, ladies browsed for silks, young lovers walked hand in hand... creatures of nightmare stalk and feed. Beasts born of corruption. The restless dead, bitter and lethal. A cursed city of painful promises and preternatural peril.

You are an exile, banished for your crimes to Wraeclast, and given a life sentence in the land of the damned. But Wraeclast wasn’t always like this. It was once an empire of ten million souls, a beautiful and bountiful continent that prospered for more than a thousand years.

Something happened. A cataclysm. A corruption beyond reason. Wraeclast took itself off to bed one balmy evening and, come morning, it failed to wake. It slumbers, tossing and turning in the perpetual nightmare that enslaved it during the darkest hours.

Players must fight their way through the necropolis to answer a question: Who murdered Wraeclast?

You’re not alone in your curiosity. Others explore the twisted capital city of the Eternal Empire. The Ebony Legion has sailed from Oriath to scour Sarn for its secrets... avaricious maggots on a fecund carcass General Gravicius plunders its tombs for wealth and power.

Piety of Theopolis harnesses corruption like a lover to her bedhead. Her lovely visage hides an imagination most monstrous.

Iseveryone and everything in Sarn out to kill or maim you beyond recognition? Pretty much... with a few exceptions. As a fellow exile, Hargan, will tell you: “Welcome to dirty, old Sarn, the metropolis of opportunity. The opportunity to make something of yourself or the opportunity to have a very messy death.”

Key features of ‘Path of Exile’:

A dark and deep action RPG

Build unlimited unique characters on a gigantic skill tree

Combine over 110 skill gems to create unique combat strategies

Explore a dark and gritty world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective

Download and play for free, but never ‘pay-to-win’

Explore randomly generated levels for extreme replayability

Craft weapons, magic items and even end-game maps to become more powerful

Cooperate or compete with thousands of other exiles in a persistent online world

So far, the much-anticipated game has raised over USD$1,200,000 in a Kickstarter-like campaign from fans buying access to the closed beta, virtual pets and pre-purchased game currency. This weekend is the opportunity for anyone to try to game for free, without having to buy a supporter pack.

The Path of Exile Beta servers will open for public access at 5pm PDT on Friday, September 14. Public access will end at 11:59pm PDT Sunday night, September 16. A full FAQ about the public weekend is available at www.pathofexile.com/publicweekend/.

When released, the game will be free to play, but will not feature ‘pay-to-win’. A previous public weekend in July attracted 55,000 players.

The latest patch adds new skills such as Arctic Breath and Ghost Reaver, additional quests, greatly improved minion functionality and a new look for item hovers.

A host of unique items have been added, including several designed by Brother Laz, author of the popular Diablo 2 mod Median XL. Over 90 fans who have purchased the USD$1000 ‘Diamond Supporter’ pack also get to design unique items for the game.

While the game is currently in a Closed Beta, fans who pre-purchase at least USD$10 of credit for the game’s ‘ethical microtransactions’ receive a beta key.

Grinding Gear Games’ producer Chris Wilson says “We find these open weekends extremely valuable, because the feedback from the general gaming public provides a different perspective than that of our Closed Beta testers. We’re really pleased to see that many public weekend players choose to join the Closed Beta to continue playing after the weekend events.”

The Open Weekend will also feature special events, such as two hour ladder races and competitions to clear areas first. To take part, sign up at www.pathofexile.com

Tuesday - August 14, 2012

Path of Exile - Preview @ Forbes

It features instanced areas so that parties (or loners) can traverse and loot and quest on their own. So far, what few quests I’ve done have been interesting and fun. The combat is described as “visceral” on the website, and that’s a fitting description. There’s some similarities with other top-down hack-and-slash games but I found the combat to have that extra oomph that can make (or break) an action-RPG. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but they do the trick. The world is certainly a bleak and colorless one, much more reminiscent of Diablo II than Diablo III.

Monday - July 30, 2012

RPGWatch Feature: Path of Exile - A Preview for Solo RPGers

by Dhruin, 12:55

VoxClamant looks at Grinding Gears' intriguing online 2D hack'n'slasher Path of Exile from the perspective of a solo player and finds much to like. Producer Chris Wilson also provides additional insight. A snip:

The standard label for PoE is "top-down RPG, single player (not party-based), client-based (4 GB download), hack-and-slash." Path of Exile is designed to be equally accessible and playable for solo play, or for groups. It is ironic that most reviewers will inevitably compare PoE to Diablo 3. Yet my $60 (USD) copy of D3 lies idle and bored on my hard drive (a dumbed-down, linear, boring rehash of old ideas in a glitzy new box), while this new free game would be worth every bit of the premium prices charged by the recent releases in RPGs.